Archives for March 6, 2006

'"When we first came here to Buffalo in 1991 this community embraced me and embraced my family," said LaFontaine, who was captain of the Sabres for five of his six seasons in Buffalo. "And everywhere I've gone, the fans have always come up to me, whether it be in Buffalo, New York or wherever I was at, and they would say thank you. Tonight, I just want to tell you that it's my turn. Thank you to the greatest fans for all of your support while was playing here."'

'"It's not about one or two lines or one or two players on this team," Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere said. "We need a total effort from everybody on this team, and seeing different guys step up and help this team on every single night is huge."'

'"It's night and day to watch," said Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere. "When I talk about the new rules I try to put myself in the fan's point of view, and when I watch it on TV it's so much more interesting. A two-goal lead in the third isn't safe anymore. Now it's a lot of fun."'

‘The Sabres have drawn sellout crowds (18,690) to 11 of their last 14 home games to climb to 18th in the 30-team NHL in average home attendance (16,461, including the disappointing crowd of 8,552 in Rochester Oct. 26). They’re third in average road attendance, partly because they’ve become one of the NHL’s most exciting teams.’

‘”In ’03-’04, we were 10th in offense but 22nd in defense,” said Ruff, one of five NHL coaches to participate in the thinktank that led to this season’s rules changes. “I think we’ve proven we can be better defensively. I think part of it is new NHL, I think part of it is we’ve taken advantage. We’ve got team speed and some very creative guys who have put together some very nice years.”‘